Neeya 2 Movie Review: An Instant B-Grade Hall Of Famer

Say what you want about Jai’s film choices but he’s that rare male actor in Kollywood who’s perfectly at ease playing the weaker person in a relationship. He did in Engeyum Epotthum and again in Raja Rani and it’s pretty much the case in last week’s Neeya 2 as well. Divya (Catherine Teresa), Sarva’s (Jai) pair, is a go-getter, even when it comes to love. She must also be a fan of popular Tamil cinema because she does everything heroes do in our films to stalk their lover into submission. She follows him around, nags him and even lies to him when she says she too suffers from the same ‘Naga dhosham’ as Sarva. But apparently the dhosham is the clincher because that’s the only criterion Sarva was ever looking for in a soulmate. They fall in love and get married but the first night is when the problems, err, arise. I guess she was expecting something smaller because she seems shocked at finding a 10-foot python in her bed. Sarva is rattled too because he wasn’t that excited. And that’s when we’re told that there’s room for one more person in this relationship.

Malar (Raai Lakshmi) is a seductress by day and serpent by night who claims to be Sarva’s soulmate from his pervious birth. So she slithers all the way from Kodaikanal to Chennai to interrupt Sarva’s mating ritual. Though it disappears after a while, Sarva understands that Divya had lied about her dosham and they’re advised by their family astrologer to perform a set of rituals if they want to keep snakes away from their bedroom. In the mean time, they’re also advised to keep figurative snakes away from the bedroom too.

Things get really hisssterical when the couple moves to Kodaikanal to perform the poojas, which means that Malar has to slither all the way back from Chennai, because there are no snakes on the plane. She even checks in to the resort where the couple is staying so she can make sure Sarva remain ‘pure’. And that’s when a resort staff tries to drug Malar, only so he can sleep with her. Because its past sunset she turns into a python again and throws a hissy fit. We then move onto a flashback about Sarva’s previous life and his love story with Malar. We then move onto another flashback within this flashback involving two other lovers and how they wanted to stay married forever…or something like that.

Which is when one realises that there’s no charm in this film even when it’s about so many snakes. Which is also when you realise that Raai Laxmi is a better at playing a snake than a person. In short, Neeya2 is the kind of film you want to show to people who think film critiquing is a fun job.

About the author

Vishal dropped out of law school to focus on his fondness for film, particularly mainstream Indian cinema. He is a film critic, previously with The Hindu after a stint at Deccan Chronicle and Reuters News. If you thought the book was better than the movie, don’t tell Vishal.

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